{"id":2580581,"date":"2026-03-16T22:08:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T02:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/abc-news-left-out-crucial-context-in-story-about-iran-drone-threat-to-california\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T22:09:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T02:09:33","slug":"abc-news-left-out-crucial-context-in-story-about-iran-drone-threat-to-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/abc-news-left-out-crucial-context-in-story-about-iran-drone-threat-to-california\/","title":{"rendered":"ABC News Left Out Crucial Context In Story About Iran Drone Threat To California"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fabc-news-left-out-crucial-context-in-story-about-iran-drone-threat-to-california%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2580581&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The piece discusses ABC News\u2019 Wednesday report about an alleged Iranian drone threat to California and notes that the initial coverage did not clearly indicate the data was unverified. It cites an FBI alert suggesting that Iran might attempt a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ukraines-drone-attack-represents-a-wake-up-moment\/\" title=\"Ukraine&#039;s drone attack represents &#039;a wake-up moment&#039;\">surprise drone attack<\/a> from an unidentified vessel off the U.S. West Coast if the U.S. strikes Iran, targeting California. An updated version of the article added an editor\u2019s note saying the full alert reportedly included the word \u201cunverified\u201d between \u201cacquired\u201d and \u201cinformation.\u201d A screenshot shared by FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson highlights the discrepancy between how ABC reported the alert and the actual FBI document. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt urged ABC News to retract, and California Governor Gavin Newsom said his administration was not aware of any imminent threats. The report places this in the broader context of heightened U.S.-Iran tensions and U.S. military strikes in Febuary, noting the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >conflict remains ongoing<\/a>. The article comes from the Daily Caller News foundation and references various site elements and Disclaimers typical of the publication.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>ABC News&rsquo; Wednesday report on an alleged Iranian drone threat to California did not initially include that the information was &ldquo;unverified.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We recently acquired information that as of early February 2026, Iran allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/what-does-the-u-s-intelligence-report-on-ufos-say-everything-you-need-to-know\/\" title=\"What Does The U.S. Intelligence Report On UFOs Say? Everything You Need To Know\">unmanned aerial vehicles<\/a> from an unidentified vessel off the coast of the United State Homeland, specifically against unspecified targets in California, in the event that the US conducted strikes against Iran,&rdquo; ABC News <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20260311175451\/https:\/\/abcnews.com\/US\/fbi-warns-iran-aspired-attack-california-drones-retaliation\/story?utm_source=facebook&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=dhfacebook&amp;utm_content=app.dashsocial.com\/abcnews\/library\/media\/649942622&amp;id=130973820\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reported<\/a> the late February alert stated.<\/p>\n<p>However, the outlet <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/US\/fbi-warns-iran-aspired-attack-california-drones-retaliation\/story?utm_source=facebook&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=dhfacebook&amp;utm_content=app.dashsocial.com\/abcnews\/library\/media\/649942622&amp;id=130973820\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">noted<\/a> in an updated version of the article on Thursday &mdash; which included an editor&rsquo;s note &mdash; that the full alert reportedly included the word &ldquo;unverified&rdquo; between &ldquo;acquired&rdquo; and &ldquo;information.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">On the left is the way ABC (or their source) reported the FBI alert.<\/p>\n<p>On the right is the actual FBI alert that went to JTFF partners.<\/p>\n<p>You will notice the word left out &mdash;&ldquo;Unverified.&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zSBHObisAI\">https:\/\/t.co\/zSBHObisAI<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XEZPeNKmDA\">pic.twitter.com\/XEZPeNKmDA<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ben Williamson (@_WilliamsonBen) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/_WilliamsonBen\/status\/2032112311972814881?\">March 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadAnyclip() { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst container=document.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\"); 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\t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The FBI has posted a fuller version of its alert to California authorities, which includes that the information was unverified,&rdquo; ABC News&rsquo; Wednesday editor&rsquo;s note stated.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The latest version of this story has been updated with the full statement.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/_WilliamsonBen\/status\/2032112311972814881?%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2032112311972814881%7Ctwgr%5E2a3d76970aa49bf8cb716e726e0510cc6a609e62%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediaite.com%2Fmedia%2Fnews%2Fkaroline-leavitt-calls-on-abc-news-to-immediately-retract-iran-story-warning-of-imminent-attack-on-west-coast%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">screenshot<\/a> posted by FBI spokesman Ben Williamson on X Thursday highlighted the discrepancy, noting that either ABC News or its source reported the FBI alert without the crucial word.<\/p>\n<p>White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also urged an immediate retraction from ABC News in a Thursday X post.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This post and story should be immediately retracted by ABC News for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-south-korean-police-indict-countrys-first-omicron-patient-for-lying-in-virus-survey\/\" title=\"Report: South Korean Police Indict Country&#039;s First Omicron Patient for &#039;Lying&#039; in Virus Survey\">providing false information<\/a> to intentionally alarm the American people. They wrote this based on one  that was sent to local law enforcement in California about a single, unverified tip,&rdquo; Leavitt wrote.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The  even states the tip was based on *unverified* intelligence. Yet ABC News left out this critical fact in their story! WHY? TO BE CLEAR: No such threat from Iran to our homeland exists, and it never did.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom posted on X Wednesday that his administration was &ldquo;not aware of any imminent threats at this time.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The United States military launched targeted strikes on Feb. 28 against the Islamic Republic of Iran after an escalation of tensions and an apparent breakdown in diplomatic negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>The conflict between the two countries remains ongoing as of Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>ABC News did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation&rsquo;s request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/union-membership-plummets-to-record-low\/\" title=\"Union Membership Plummets to Record Low\">legitimate news publisher<\/a> that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter&rsquo;s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here is a concise paraphrase:<\/p>\n<p>ABC News\u2019 Wednesday report alleged Iran planned a surprise drone attack on California based on information from early February 2026, and it did not initially indicate that the information was unverified. An updated version later included an editor\u2019s note stating the full FBI alert contained the word \u201cunverified.\u201d A side-by-side comparison suggested the FBI alert sent to JTFF partners omitted that word in ABC\u2019s report. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt urged ABC News to retract the story, arguing it spread false information based on a single unverified tip. California Governor Gavin Newsom said there were no known imminent threats at that time. The United States conducted targeted strikes on Iran on February 28 amid rising tensions, and the conflict remained ongoing. ABC News did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2580582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_7195.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[75934,4045,75935,75933,56439],"class_list":["post-2580581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-abc-news-2","tag-california","tag-context-omission","tag-iran-drone-threat","tag-media-bias-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_7195.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2580581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2580581"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2580581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2580585,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2580581\/revisions\/2580585"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2580582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2580581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2580581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2580581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}